September was another strong month for construction in Prince George. This year's building permits are on a healthy pace, and a major breakthrough from last year, according to municipal officials.
The significant building permits issued in September 2010 included:
6995 Dagg Road - building of multi-family seniors' low income rental housing (four buildings consisting of a total of 30 units) by the Provincial Rental Housing Corporation ... $4,203,000;
444 George Street - interior renovations to 144 rooms by the Ramada Hotel ... $1,800,000;
2789 PG Pulpmill Road - construction of a building addition by Canfor PG Pulp ... $683,317;
1325 Foley Crescent - mill modernization project (foundation only) by Lakeland Mills ... $355,600;
7415 7421 Creekside Way - new duplex ... $252,950;
1302 - 7th Avenue - improvements to tenant space by Commonwealth Group ... $224,000;
4141 Airport Road - three-bay extension to fire hall by P.G. Airport Fire Department ... $219,484;
Eight single-family dwellings totalling $1,623,330.
Planning manager Nelson Wight said this was much warmer than 2009's construction climate.
"I am very encouraged, actually, by what we are seeing," Wight said. "The year to date is over 100 permits compared to 52 at this point last year, so that in itself is exciting. Our development permit revenue is looking like we are getting close to the 10-year average which is quite encouraging. 2007 was quite good, 2008 was a bit below the average, 2009 was well below the average, so this is a nice bounce-back."
Wight felt caution, however. A lot of the positive numbers are a result of major projects and those often take years of discussions and planning, then a flurry of construction activity that bolsters the statistics, but then it is done. Examples of that underway today include the seniors' housing project mentioned above, the northern cancer centre and CNC expansion.
"You can't always count on those major projects each year. That can really swing the stats," he said. Still, he conceded, "Last year was pretty dismal. This is a nice return to our historical average."
The total value (year to date, rounded to nearest $100,000) of construction projects in 2008 was $66.8 million; in 2009 it was $55.4 million and in 2010 it sits so far at $123 million.
